April 18, 2024

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EDITOR'S PICKS

• Companies 
  

  LS Eco Energy wins $30.51m supply deal to supply Denmark's Energinet

  LS Eco Energy, a subsidiary of LS Cable & System, announced Wednesday that it is supplying extra high voltage cables to Energinet, a Danish state-owned transmission system operator of electricity and natural gas, over the next three years in a deal worth $30.51 million deal. The contract follows another Danish deal worth $13 billion signed earlier this month. The demand for EHV cables has been growing substantially in Denmark thanks to the nation’s growing infrastructure projects --

• Tech 
  

  Samsung CEO bets big on connectivity to take on Apple

  Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee said its home appliance division, backed by enhanced connectivity with mobile devices, will enjoy its heyday in the second half of this year, showing confidence in the competition with its powerful rival Apple. “We may not yet be the No. 1 player in the home appliance sector. But if we can offer more enhanced connectivity, based on our leadership in TVs and smartphones, consumers will respond positively,” Han said at a press

• Markets 
  

  HD Hyundai signs W641b warship deal with Peru

  HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has bagged an order worth 640.6 billion won ($462 million) to build four warships for Peru’s state-owned shipyard SIMA, marking Korea’s largest-ever defense export deal to Latin America. According to HD Hyundai on Wednesday, Peru's President Dina Boluarte and Defense Minister Walter Astudillo Chavez, as well as Joo Won-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' special ship business unit, attended a signing ceremony held at the Naval Center San Borja, in L

• Companies 
  

  Affinity tapped as preferred bidder for SK Rent-a-Car

  SK Networks has chosen Affinity Equity Partners, a private equity fund headquartered in Hong Kong, as its preferred bidder for the sale of its ownership stake in SK Rent-a-Car, the nation's No. 2 rental car service company. SK Networks intends to divest all of its shares in an estimated deal worth some 850 billion won ($613 million). Both parties plan to conduct due diligence before finalizing the contract, SK Networks said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Following the merger of AJ Rent-a-Car

• Tech 
  

  LG sets W1tr sales goal for built-in appliances by 2027

  LG Electronics unveiled the ambitious target of 1 trillion won ($722 million) in sales solely from built-in appliances by 2027 at this year’s Milan Design Week, one of the largest international design and furniture exhibitions. “Within three years, we will be able to make our built-in (appliance) business worth trillions and turn it into another growth engine,” Lyu Jae-cheol, head of LG Electronics' home appliance and air solutions division, told a group of local reporters in

• Companies 
  

  LS Materials breaks ground on EV parts plant

  LS Materials’ subsidiary HAIMK began construction of an aluminum parts plant for electric vehicles in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday. According to LS Materials, the plant will begin the mass production of battery cases with an annual capacity that can be used for 300,000 EVs in the first quarter of next year. The product is a high-strength aluminum component that protects the battery from outside impact without supplementary steel material. “Our products will be the

• Markets 
  

  Beer imports from Japan more than double in Q1

  South Korea's imports of Japanese beer products more than doubled on-year in the first quarter this year, despite a 20 percent drop in the country's overall beer imports during the same period, government data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the combined value of Korea's beer imports in the January-March period decreased by 19.8 percent on-year to reach $45.2 million. In terms of volume, the country' beer imports went down by 24.1 percent to 48,322 tons. Beer imports

• Companies 
  

  Mirae Asset Global X set for growth under new chief

  Mirae Asset Global Investments announced Wednesday that Global X, its US-based exchange-traded fund subsidiary, would seek increased competitiveness under new CEO Ryan O'Connor, the former global head of ETF products at Goldman Sachs. O'Connor, who has an over 17-year career in the US ETF industry, having worked at Goldman Sachs and State Street Global Advisors, took office as the chief of fund issuer Global X on April 8. Through a recent leadership reshuffle carried out earlier this month, E

• Markets 
  

  Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase?

  In March 2023, Apple Pay made a grand entrance into the South Korean market, amassing 1 million users on its debut day alone and doubling that figure within three weeks. But a year later, the initial fervor surrounding the mobile payment service of the iPhone maker appears to have dwindled considerably amid the lack of widespread availability. With Hyundai Card's exclusive partnership set to expire in September, no other card companies have followed suit in integrating the service. Speculation

• Markets 
  

  Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility

  South Korea and Japan’s finance ministers voiced concerns over the recent depreciation of their currencies against the US dollar, showing their intention to step into the market to support the won and yen, according to Korea's Finance Ministry on Wednesday. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok met with his Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday for the first time since he took office on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington. &ldqu

• Tech 
  

  SK hynix sees 30% surge in market cap in Q1

  South Korea’s total market cap increased by nearly 100 trillion won ($72 billion) during the first quarter of this year, backed by jumps in stock prices in key industries, including semiconductors, data showed Tuesday. According to a report from local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute, the combined market cap of 2,692 local firms jumped 96 trillion won during the January-March period to reach 2,599 trillion won. The figures exclude the value of preferred shares. The number of stocks

• Markets 
  

  Korean won slides amid heightened uncertainty

  The Korean won weakened to 1,400 won against the US dollar during trading hours Tuesday, marking a new 17-month low as the Korean economy faces headwinds from the escalating volatility in the Middle East. The local currency against the greenback closed at 1,394.5 won, losing its value by 10.5 won from the previous trading day. Shortly after trading began at 1,389.9 won, the rate weakened to 1,400 won to $1 at 11:32 a.m., marking the first time in 17 months for the currency exchange rate to hi

• Companies 
  

  Doosan, LG team up to debut EV charging robot

  Doosan Robotics has teamed up with LG Electronics to test an automated electric vehicle charging system that uses its advanced collaborative robots to streamline the EV charging process. This system combines LG’s 100-kilowatt fast chargers with Doosan’s high-dexterity collaborative robotics tech to replace the manual process of handling bulky charging cables that drivers often find cumbersome. The companies started a pilot operation for their new automated EV charging station last

• Markets 
  

  Credit card transactions hit W900tr in 2023

  Last year, South Korea's card payments surged past 900 trillion won ($644.6 billion) for the first time, amid heightened inflation and escalating consumer prices. Data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service reveals that the combined card payment performance of the nation's eight major credit card companies -- Shinhan, Samsung, Hyundai, KB Kookmin, Lotte, Woori, Hana, and BC -- reached 920.5 trillion won, marking a 6.4 percent increase from the 2022 total of 856.4 trillion won. This mil

• Companies 
  

  Renault Korea revisits evolution of lozenge emblem

  Renault Korea on Tuesday outlined a brief history of its iconic “lozenge” emblem, revisiting its evolution following the company's rebranding earlier this month. The rebranding replaced the "storm’s eye" logo used exclusively by its Korean branch since 2000 with Renault's original diamond-shaped lozenge emblem. The diamond-shaped logo is prominently featured at the company's new flagship store in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, where the rebranding announcement took place. Th

• Tech 
  

  Line Next redefines digital market in Web3 era

  Line Next, the Web3 unit of Japanese-based LY Corp., has redefined the digital market with its mobile service Dosi, which made its official debut in January this year. Line Next says it has transformed Dosi from an NFT platform into a dynamic digital service that integrates Web3 technology with existing web features. Seeking to expand the non-fungible token ecosystem, Line Next is paving the way to lead the Web3 market by offering differentiated services and exclusive digital perks users want